


Whose Place No One Else Can Take

by Naite_Laef



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Ember Island (Avatar), Gen, Katara (Avatar)-centric, Minor Sokka/Suki, Mom Friend Katara (Avatar), Pack Mom, Protective Zuko (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naite_Laef/pseuds/Naite_Laef
Summary: "'Momtara?' Katara said, bewildered. 'Momtara? What's that supposed to mean?'"Stressed out with the impending comet, Katara's gone a little too far as the pack mom again. Thankfully, her kids care enough about her to take the load off once in a while.
Relationships: Katara & The Gaang (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 154





	Whose Place No One Else Can Take

Katara drew the line at Sokka stripping on the front steps. 

"Can you not?" she cried out. Already down to his underwear, she stomped over to him and began gathering his clothes in her arms. "Seriously, you can't do that inside?" 

"What does it matter if I change inside?" Sokka asks, totally clueless. "Everyone here has already seen me in my underwear." 

She rolled her eyes when she heard Toph clear her throat. 

"Yeah, yeah, blind," Sokka added with a dismissive hand gesture. "Whatever." 

"That's not what I meant," Katara fumed. "I meant, you always leave all your clothes laying around for me to pick up!" 

"Well," Aang chimed in, already sounding hesitant. And when he found himself under the heat of her glare, he smiled sheepishly. "I mean, you could always... not. You don't have to clean up after him if you don't want to, right?" 

"But if I don't clean up after him, who will?" Katara complained, still clutching her brother's clothes to her chest. "I'm always cleaning up after everyone!" 

"What's going on?" a deep voice interrupted. Zuko came slinking out of the trees surrounding his family's beach house, his hair damp with sweat, and his bare chest shining in the sunlight. 

"I thought you were just taking a break," he said, scowling at Aang. "Why didn't you come back?" 

"Aang was dehydrated," Katara sniffed, half-gesturing to the fruit punch in his hand. "I made him stay a little longer so he doesn't get sick." 

She turned back to Zuko. "If you go wash up right now, lunch should be ready by the time you get out. Just use the downstairs shower." 

"Wait, what?" Zuko sputtered, his shoulders rising defensively. "I don't need to bathe. I'm still training!" He looked at Aang, eyes narrowed. "We're still training." 

Aang gulped nervously, eyes darting back and forth between the two teens. "Um-" 

"Sokka, get back here!" Katara demanded, finally having noticed her brother a dozen feet away, trying to sneak off to meet Suki at the beach. 

He froze at the sound of his name. 

"You still need to take these up to your room!" 

"I thought you were going to wash them!" Sokka shouted back, a pout on his lips. 

"Come on, Aang, you're done here," Zuko ordered, pulling the boy up by his wrist. Fumbling his drink, Aang allowed himself to be pulled along until Katara rounded on them again. 

"Seriously, Zuko! Go bathe before Toph takes up all the hot water." She sent a sidelong glare at the Earthbender, who had called first dibs in the upstairs shower, but had seemingly never taken it. Looking back to Zuko, Katara added, "And leave your underwear outside the door so I can wash them." 

Cheeks turning red, Zuko practically shouted, "You are not touching my underwear!" 

"Wait, did you really just tell a firebender to hurry up before the hot water runs out?" Toph mused, still digging her feet into the mud patch next to the front steps. 

"Why not?" Katara said, ignoring Toph. 

"Because- because you're you," Zuko fumbled. "You're a girl!" 

"You think I've never seen boys' underwear before?" She sent a pointed look to the pile of clothes in her arms. 

"Sokka, get back here!" she called over her shoulder. 

"Coming!" Sokka said, despite not moving an inch back towards the beach house. 

"That's not the point!" Zuko fired back, letting go of Aang. The Avatar promptly sat down where he'd been left, nursing his cool drink with both hands. "You're just- ugh! Come on Aang, we've still got a lot of work to do-" 

"Zuko, I can smell you from over here!" Katara scolded, finally dropping her brother's clothes in exasperation. 

"You're not my mom," Zuko snapped, crossing his arms self-consciously. "Maybe you should stop acting like it!" 

"I don't- I don't act like a mom!" 

"Okay, normally I'd be all for telling Momtara off," Toph interrupted, "but I can kind of smell you from here, too, Sparky." 

A flush crept down Zuko's chest, and Aang scrunched his nose. "I don't think he smells that bad," the Avatar said in a small voice. 

"Momtara?" Katara said, bewildered. "Momtara? What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Haven't we already had this argument before?" Sokka said, strolling up to the group, mouth smeared with lipstick. 

"What argument?" Suki asked, popping in behind Sokka. 

"If you're so stressed out, Katara, why don't you let Zuko help you with the laundry?" Aang asked, his fruity drink almost gone. "It sounds like he knows how to wash clothes, too." 

"Of course I know how to wash my own clothes," Zuko scoffed. "I'm not a child." 

"Right," Suki said, dryly. "Not a child. Just royalty."

"Yeah, you're a prince! Why do you know how to wash your own-" Sokka stopped abruptly, eyes going wide. "Oh, ew!" He made a face. "That white stain I found on your sleeping bag-" 

"Shut up, Sokka!" Zuko yelled, kicking up enough sand to make the Water Tribe boy cough. Next to him, Suki lost it, doubling over in laughter, much to Zuko's mortification. 

"You said you wouldn't say anything," Zuko hissed at Sokka, the red blush across his cheeks only growing darker as Suki kept laughing. 

"White stain?" Toph asked, sounding genuinely confused. "What's he-" 

"Don't worry about it," Katara, Sokka, and Zuko all said at once. 

Aang cocked his head, also a little lost. "What are you-" 

"Fifty hot squats, now!" Zuko roared, yanking Aang up by the elbow. He handed the drink to Toph, who gladly slurped up the rest while Zuko shoved Aang in the direction of the courtyard. The Avatar sprinted off, ready to get away from the cryptic older kids. 

"Yes, Sifu Hotman!" 

"Don't call me that," Zuko huffed, not bothering to follow Aang. 

Still in hysterics, Suki's knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, a few inches from a pair of socks. She immediately gagged. "Oh, spirits, Sokka, are all of those your clothes?" Suki gasped, covering her nose. "When was the last time you washed them?" 

"Katara washed them just the other day," Sokka defended with a stubborn frown. His sister opened her mouth to argue, but found herself cut off. 

"Katara," Zuko said, laying a hand on her forearm to get her attention. "Do you have any more of that juice you gave Aang?" 

Blinking, Katara's expression melted into one of concern. "Oh! Yeah, there's plenty more. Are you feeling okay? It's pretty hot out here. Did you want some?" 

With a strained smile, Zuko replied, "Please." 

She quickly entered the house, bending the chilled fruit drink into a tall glass. She would swear she had only been gone a minute, but she must've been gone a little longer than she'd thought. 

Across the bottom step lay the clean tunic Zuko had taken off to train, with the shirt bunched into a makeshift pillow near one end. Sokka's pile of clothes were being carried away by both Sokka and Suki. Toph was nowhere to be seen, and all traces of her mud had disappeared as well. And when an eager Airbender zipped past her and into the kitchen, only Zuko remained outside. 

"What's going on?" Katara asked, confused. 

"Sit," Zuko instructed, pointing to the makeshift beach towel he'd left with his clothing. 

She frowned. "But that's your-" 

"Katara," he said, taking a deep breath. "Just sit, okay? Please?" 

With a suspicious look, Katara sat, finding the balled-up shirt to actually be quite comfortable between her lower back and the steps' railing. 

"Have a drink," Zuko said, voice soft as he watched her get comfortable. 

"But I got this for-" 

"It's for you, Katara," he said, much to her surprise. "Sokka and Suki are off taking care of everyone's laundry. Toph is upstairs, hopefully bathing. Aang is cooking for us-" 

"Aang is what?!" 

"-which is also part of his training, as we worked on temperature control yesterday," Zuko emphasized, squashing her dismay. "He has to keep his fire low, but strong and even." When he didn't elaborate further, Katara just looked at him like he'd gone insane. 

"I don't- I don't understand." 

He sighed, crouching down low to meet her gaze. "You're always taking care of us, whether we ask you to or not," he admitted. "Even if I don't let you touch my clothes, you still do everyone else's. You clean, cook, and wash the dishes. You somehow find the time to give Aang more waterbending lessons." His face darkened. "And I saw you mend that giant hole in the crotch of Sokka's pants the other day, which I don't even want to think about how that happened." 

A giggle escaped her, and the sound brought a smile to his lips. "It's your turn to relax for a bit, okay?" he said, voice soft and low. "Just lie back, sip some juice, and uh... do whatever calm people do." 

She quirked an eyebrow. "Do whatever calm people do," she repeated, deadpan. 

He huffed, slightly sheepish. "Do I strike you as someone who knows how to relax?" he joked. "Anyway, I'm going to go wash up. You don't go anywhere." 

As Zuko made his way past her and to the door, Katara reached out to skim his exposed ankle with her fingertips. "Wait," she called out. He stopped, turning slightly so that she could see only one side of his face. 

"Thanks," she murmured. 

He paused, then looked away. "Do I really stink?" 

She laughed. "Oh, yeah. But I'm pretty sure every boy your age does." 

He wrinkled his nose, clearly offended, but she just grinned in response. And after a few moments, he cracked a smile, too. 

"See you at lunch, Momtara."


End file.
